


4 Days

by AnkhsAngel



Category: Kung Fu: The Legend Continues
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 06:37:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21114350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnkhsAngel/pseuds/AnkhsAngel





	4 Days

4 Days   
My name is Dr. Sabourin. I'm the attending ER physician. I see a lot of things happen here - grief, anger, sometimes happiness. But never the kind of stubborn resistance I've seen the last four days. Let me explain....... 

June 23rd 

I'm there as the doors swing open. I'm usually calm and collected when patients arrive. But this one's different. Peter Caine is holding a blood soaked dressing to the patient's chest and for a moment, I'm afraid to ask who it is. Then my eyes clear and the question dies.  
Michael Chan lays unconscious, three bullet wounds in the upper chest. The paramedics tell me his pulse and blood pressure are both so low, they're amazed he made it here. I catch a quick glimpse of Peter's ashen face and wonder how much he's actually aware of. 

"Operating Room One stat!"

The nurse nods and rushes the gurney into the elevator. As it closes, I turn to the still silent detective.   
"Peter? Can you tell me what happened? Are you injured?"   
He looks at me dazedly, and for the first time I notice all the blood covering his clothes. I'm praying that none of it is his, but that proves futile as he suddenly collapses into my arms. 

"Jack!"   
I call the receptionist as I search for injuries. He kneels beside me.   
"I need a gurney."  
As he leaves, I find the cause of the detective's collapse. Somehow, Peter had stopped a bullet in the right side of his abdominal wall. It didn't look too serious, but he was losing blood quickly. The gurney arrives and I put the cop on it and head to the elevator. How in God's name had Peter stayed on his feet? I didn't know.   
My nurse is leaving operating room one and I tell her about Peter. She rolls him into room two as I go to scrub up. Peter isn't that serious, so I leave him with another doctor and head for room one. One look and I can see the situation is grim. One bullet had lodged in Michael's right lung. Nothing unfix-able. The other bullets had nicked the heart muscle and there's some hemorrhage.   
Michael is critical and I wonder if he'll even make it off the table. I quickly push the thought away and concentrate on the surgery.   
Two hours later, we're done. Amazingly, Michael's still alive. If he makes it through the next couple days, he should be okay in about a month. As he is wheeled into a private ICU room, I go to check on Peter's condition.   
He's already in recovery. The wound wasn't deep enough to do any damage to organs, but he had lost enough blood to be in serious condition. I decide to put Peter in Michael's room and leave word to find me when either one woke. Then I go to do my rounds. 

June 24th 

The light brings me awake and I sit up groggily, rubbing my eyes to focus. An orderly stands in the doorway.   
"Dr. Sabourin?"  
I nod and follow him into the ER. 

"Detective Caine is awake and asking for you."  
I smile and head into the elevator. 

As I approach the private room, I stop and take a deep breath. I know Peter and I have to be prepared when he asks the question. I enter the room slowly.   
"Peter?" 

I pause, waiting for an answer.   
"I'm awake. How's Michael?"  
I sit down on the edge of the bed. "He's stable for now. Still unconscious, but that's to be expected. Can you tell me what happened?"   
Peter sighs and I can tell he's hurting.  
"Do you want me to get you something?"  
He shakes his head and begins to speak.

" We were running surveillance on a loan shark that rumors had being close to the Triad ring I've been investigating lately. We witnessed our informant 's murder and decided to take him down. He saw us and started shooting. Mike got hit and I called for an ambulance. Then I got hit. I don't remember anything else." 

I smile halfheartedly at him.  
"You and Michael arrived late last night. You were helping the medics with Michael, but you were obviously in shock. I tried to talk to you, but you passed out and I had to rush you into surgery." 

Peter is silent a moment, then speaks.   
"Tell me the truth, Doc. Don't lie to me please. What is Mike's prognosis? How bad is it?" 

The two questions I'd been dreading were finally out. I take a deep breath, then answer.   
"He was shot three times. Once in the right lung, the other two nicked his heart. He lost a lot of blood. Frankly, I'm surprised he made it off the operating table. He's stable, like I said. But it doesn't look good. I'm sorry." 

Peter closes his eyes heavily. "How bad was I?"  
I smile at him. "In and out through your abdominal wall. No organs damaged, but you did lose some blood. Another day and I'll release you."   
He smiles weakly as I stand.   
"Now get some rest. Doctor's orders."  
He chuckles as I leave the room. 

June 25th 

"I'm not leaving."   
There are no three words more exasperating to me than those. Especially when they come from Peter Caine. 

“Peter-” 

The detective shook his head, interrupting me."I'm not leaving Michael. Not until he wakes up." 

I refrain from restating the grim prognosis. No amount of repeating it will make the detective believe it. The private investigator's condition had gone downhill. Comatose since his arrival, he'd grown steadily non responsive in the ensuing days. He was still on a respirator while his punctured lung healed, but what worried me was the damage done to his heart. 

Two slugs had nicked the sac surrounding it, causing extreme internal bleeding. We'd stabilized him and removed the bullets, but he'd lapsed into a coma. If the investigator got any worse, he'd be brain dead. But I couldn't tell Peter that. He wouldn't believe me.

" There are rules, Peter. Go home. Get a shower and some sleep. Some food wouldn't be bad either. Then you can come back. I'll call you if something happens, OK?" 

Reluctantly he nods and leaves as I check Michael's vitals. With a heavy heart, I finish my rounds. 

2 Hours Later 

"Code Blue! Room 12, stat!" 

As I hear the call, I drop my chart and run down the hall.   
Room 12 is Michael's room. I pray the call is for his new roommate.  
Michael's EKG is fibrillating and the attending is juicing up the paddles. I hold my breath as 100 volts are applied.   
Nothing. Flat line. 

The voltage goes up. 200 volts -nothing. 300 volts -nothing. I hold back tears as the flat line buzzes on. Suddenly the heartbeat returns. The staff releases its collective breath and quietly disperse. Hurrying to the phone, I call Peter. 

30 minutes after   
Peter rushes in, ignoring me and heading directly for Michael's room. I follow him slowly and wait by the door.   
"Damn you, Mike! How could you pull that? You try that again and I'll kill you myself! You hear me? Open your eyes, Michael. Please....don't leave me."  
I turn away as I realize Peter is crying. I'm hoping the old saying 'it gets worse before it gets better' is true, because it can't get much worse than this. 

June 26th   
Peter's asleep when I arrive, his head on the edge of Michael's bed; his hand still gripping Michael's. As I approach, I'm astonished to see Michael awake. He uses his other hand to 'ssh' me. Laughing softly, I nod in understanding. 

Checking his vitals, I whisper "How long?"  
Michael smiles lopsidedly. "A couple of hours. I didn't want to wake him."   
We grin conspiratorially as Peter suddenly wakes.  
"Dr. Sabourin? What time is it?" He looks at me in confusion.  
Michael grins wider and answers him. "Long enough.  
Let go of my hand or people will talk."

Peter looks at his friend in disbelief for a moment, then lets out a yell that was probably heard at the nurse's station. "When?"   
Michael shrugs. "A few hours. I decided against waking you. What happened?"   
"You were shot. We weren't sure if you'd make it or not. You've been unconscious for four days."  
Michael looked somberly at Peter as I finished explaining. "Are you okay?"   
Peter smiles. "I am now that you're awake. I tell you this has been the longest four days of my life." 

With a laugh, I left the two friends alone.....


End file.
